Salt Mine, Fortress, Rick Steves Tour Begins

I was down at 7 am sharp to get my coffee. I had my coffee first and then started in on breakfast.  Wow! What an array of food.  I ordered a cheese omelet.  It was good, but I probably won't order it again since it took longer to prepare.  We had to check out and settle the bill, and then check in with the Rick Steves tour.  We did not have to change rooms. They do have electric tea kettles; you just have to ask for one.  So tomorrow should be great. I won't have to rush down at 7 am to get my morning cup.

We headed out a little after 8:15 am to get to the Panorama Tour bus for our Salt Mine Tour.

Interesting cross walk

Our tour bus.  There were 2 groups on this bus. There were some people who were going to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and some who were doing the salt mine tour.  We had to have our passports along because we were going into Germany.  They did not actually check our passports today.  Here are some scenery pictures along the way.

Mountains and Factory

Bertschesgaden.

Once we got close to the Eagle's Nest, the people who had signed up for that tour, had to get off and take a smaller vehicle to go up the mountain. There were 11 of us who went to the salt mine.  What an interesting tour.

We had to put on some protective gear.  It was very hot until we started on the tour, then I was glad for the extra layer.

On the little train.

There was a sign saying no photography on the train.  I thought that was because they wanted us to buy these formal photos.  We went on this train for a ways.  We got off the train and went down this slide.

That is me screaming.  I think that the protective clothes we had to wear helped us slide faster.

I did take some pictures after the train ride.  The process of getting the salt is very complicated and high tech now.  They showed the difference between how it was done years ago and how it is done now. 

Interesting rocks layers.

We took a raft across mirror lake.  Very clear water.   They turned off the lights and then did a light show.  It was hard to get a good picture.

We got to taste the salty water.

At this point the guide mentioned that we were not supposed to take pictures anywhere. We were not the only ones taking pictures, but I did not take any more pictures.

We went down another slide and then took a funicular back up to where we could catch the little train again.  That took us back to the beginning.  It was a very interesting tour.  It is still an active mine.  

Once we were back on the bus, we headed back to pick up the Eagles' Nest people. 

Eagle's Nest is high up on the hill.

Then we went into Bertschesgaden for lunch. We ate at Lillet.

Spinach and Gorgonzola pizza.  It was yummy.  I had a limoncello spritz

Behind me, trapped by the glass we saw this giant insect.  I thought that it was a bee.  Nathan looked it up.  It is a large biting fly which has a very painful bite.  Argh.  I was nervous to have it so close to me.  By this picture, you can't tell that it is about 1 1/2 inches long.

Cute little place 

We wandered  around a bit.  We went into an old church before we went back to the bus.

Close up of the pillar.  Notice the face.

I lit a candle for all the people I know who are struggling.  Not that I am Catholic, but it always seems like a meaningful thing to do.

We got back to our hotel about 2 pm.  We got into cooler clothes and then headed out again.  This time we walked through town to get to the funicular to go up to the fortress. 

 By then, it was pretty hot,  86 degrees!!  We went through the fortress and explored some areas, like the observatory tower. Lots of great views of the town below.

Looking across to the Museum of Modern Art.  We were going to walk to MoMA to take the elevator down.

Remember this hill Kris?  

Going under the funicular

Barbara's Garden.  It was closed today.

Yup, that is where we were.

Nathan inside the cage.

Nathan took this picture from inside the cage, looking up.

Another art piece.

We had talked about walking the whole way down, but we were so hot and sweaty and we did not want to show up at the Rick Steves meet and greet that way. So we did take the elevator down.  We met up with some people who were lost. They did not speak English. We tried to help them.  Apparently, they wanted the restaurant near the "alligator," which would take them down the mountain after they were through eating. Amazingly enough, we were able to point them in the right direction.  Since we were headed to that alligator (elevator).

We got back to the hotel in time to take showers and change before heading down to the Meet and Greet.  Laurel seems very nice.  We could have a complimentary beverage of choice.  Nathan and I both had wine.  We got to meet people as they arrived.  We sat with a family from Albany, OR.  Laurel went over the general outline of how things would go. Then we did introductions.  Then we picked our buddies.  Heidi, from Mankato, MN, picked Nathan, and I picked Chris from Albany. Heidi is very familiar with Ely, MN.  It is one of her favorite places.  Leta and Chris are a couple whose son, Jake, just graduated from high school. This is his graduation gift. 

Several people had done this same My Way Alpine trip before and wanted to do it again.  It seems like a good group.  Quite the age range (10 - 79). 

We went to our rooms for a while.  Nathan and I worked on logistics for tomorrow. We bought our train tickets to go to Werfen.  I was getting hungry, but Nathan did not want anything.  So we went downstairs.  I just ordered a tuna sandwich from the hotel.  Nathan and I played a couple of rounds of gin, then we went back to our rooms.  I did not take a picture of my sandwich.  I should have.  It was quite tasty.  I bought a glass of wine to take up to the room.

This is one of those hotel rooms that you have to have the door key card in the slot for the lights and AC to come on.  Apparently, Nathan blew a fuse by having powerful stuff plugged in.  

I am determined to sleep tonight so I went down and bought a cognac.  

I hope that it works.